Following World War II, the lower downtown area went through a slow, steady decline. The number of passenger trains passing through dropped from 80 to two per day. The building sat vacant temporarily before being remodeled into office space.

BNC Engineers bought the aging structure at 1536 Wynkoop Street and began a major renovation to turn the building into office space. This renovation brought about the addition of the elevator and patio area. However, after a national recession hit Denver in 1982, the engineering firm abandoned the building, except for one small tenant—an alternative energy company named Infinite Energy.

Within the first few months of opening in 2004, The Alliance Center provided office and meeting space for the successful statewide citizens’ ballot initiative, which was the first voter-approved renewable energy portfolio standard in the US. The initiative required 10 percent of electricity from investor owned utilities be generated from renewable energy by 2020.

Staff and partners created the Better Building Coalition to press the Colorado legislature to set high performance standards for publicly owned buildings.

The Center received the Energy Champion Award from Colorado Governor Owens’ Office of Energy Management and Conservation for our performance and efforts.

For the first year of the Alliance’s ownership, the building underwent significant construction to convert the warehouse into office spaces, making liberal use of eco-friendly green building construction with high-tech concepts. The Alliance became the second building in the world to earn two US Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications—Existing Buildings Gold and Commercial Interiors Silver—while also earning U.S. EPA Energy Star Leader status.

The leadership awards celebrate the individuals and groups at the forefront of sustainability in the built environment. We received this for our on-site educational signage and tours covering key sustainability issues and green building solutions.   

Championed by The Alliance Center and its partners, this legislation had the State Architect adopted LEED Gold certification as the required standard for new construction and renovations of more than 5,000 square feet receiving over 25 percent of funding from the state.

These awards honor projects throughout the city for excellence in architecture, exterior design and place-making.  The Alliance Center received it for our efforts using and promoting green building practices.

Envisioned by John Powers, Michael Huttner (founder of ProgressNow), Markos Moulitsas (founder of Daily Kos) and Alliance staff, and located in The Alliance Center’s parking lot, the Big Tent was a nonprofit, nonpartisan event that provided dedicated space for new media journalists and bloggers during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The Big Tent included the use of both The Alliance Center—one of Colorado’s greenest buildings—as well as an 8,000-square-foot, two-story temporary structure that housed a state-of-the-art blogging/new media lounge, the Google retreat and the Digg Stage (the main stage on the first floor). The Big Tent hosted a diverse range of participants from local tweeters to national media figures such as Rachael Maddow and Dan Rather.

Awarded by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment to companies that voluntarily go beyond regulatory compliance to reduce their impact on the environment. The Alliance Center has maintained our Gold Leader status (the highest designation) since 2008.

Founder John Powers received the The Wirth Chair Pioneer of the New Energy Economy Award.